Clearing the mental clutter from an eventful Sunday …
… With the endgame sequence and the dramatic, slightly wacky but still successful drive that preceded it, quite a few storylines and notes got lost in the shuffle. Such as …
… The reconstituted offensive line. It gave up one sack and committed what could have been a devastating penalty (the holding call on Chris Myers that put the Broncos into a second-and-13 that became a third-and-23 after the Jay Cutler-Selvin Young lateral that Young batted out of bounds), but also popped open numerous holes for Travis Henry to sprint through. What impressed me most, though, was the unit’s downfield and screen-pass blocking, particularly from Montrae Holland, who had key blocks on the late-third-quarter screen passes to Henry (two in three plays) early on the Broncos’ only touchdown drive …
… Speaking of key blocks, how great was it to see Brandon Marshall celebrate a block with as much — if not more — vigor than his tightrope touchdown reception? Marshall, I thought, had his most complete game as a pro …
… If that shoulder holds up, Simeon Rice will be fine. The pass-rush moves are still strong, and he will win a hefty amount of his one-on-one matchups while continuing to draw some double-teams. Even on the plays in which he took part, he was a difference maker, simply because the Bills had to overcompensate to account for him …
… Domonique Foxworth. He was seen on crutches in the locker room with a sprained ankle. As long as it’s not the dreaded high ankle sprain, one would think it would only leave him sidelined for a short time, but we might hear more from Head Coach Mike Shanahan on the subject this afternoon …
… So, on the bus back to the airport from the stadium, I’m sitting next to one of the best friends I or anyone else could have, Fox Sports Net photojournalist Charlie Felix. He views the games from field level as a pool photographer, so I like to pick his brain for some perspective or vignettes from down there that would help illuminate the storytelling all of us hacks attempt to do in the wake of such a compelling game.
Charlie and I often view games and sport through similar, precisely detailed prisms. For instance, many a conversation between us has dealt with arcana such as the width of uniform stripes. This time, it was musing about how NFL Films would chronicle the moment — with “the moment” being Jay Cutler’s second late-game comeback drive. (His first, don’t forget, was a game-tying drive against San Francisco last Dec. 31.)
Charlie brought up Super Bowl X — specifically, the sequence when Roger Staubach leads the Dallas Cowboys to a touchdown that pulls them within 21-17. (You might remember the score from a Phil Hartman-narrated Saturday Night Live sketch as “Super Bowl Gambling Memory,” since the play allowed the Cowboys to beat the spread.)
I nodded, somewhat in agreement, but had a different tune in mind.
“Well,” I said, “There’s the music that you hear at the end of the Super Bowl XIII highlights, when Staubach leads the Cowboys to those back-to-back touchdowns. For the entire last quarter, I’d go with the music they used for the second-half hitting montage on the Super Bowl V highlights, where they showed Baltimore gradually taking control of the tempo and physical aspect of the game; because you sensed that even though the Broncos didn’t have the lead, they were starting to enforce their will.”
Which was true. The Bills’ offense was flailing. Marshawn Lynch was able to get the occasional big run, but he was also swallowed whole by Sam Adams, Amon Gordon and their conspirators in the front seven for much of the second half. Yet they were in by two points, which meant that with third-and-8 and two and a half minutes left, they could dig into their playbook for one walloping, arching, Dave Kingman-esque swing at the fences to decide the game …
I’m not sure what music I would use there for ths sight of J.P. Losman’s pass in flight, headed in Lee Evans’ direction. Something stark and slow. Slow-motion would be appropriate, since it seemed as though the football remained airborne for several minutes.
Then, as the ball finally succumbs to Newtonian principles, an audible gasp from the 71,132 onlookers and both benches. A gasp of relief from Denver’s partisans. A gasp of fear from Buffalo’s, since their team once again had to try and stop the Broncos on a possession that would commence at the Denver 34. A difficult tack, considering that Denver’s offense had gained at least 43 yards on four of its last five series, and that a 43-yard march would take the Broncos to the Buffalo 23 — squarely in Jason Elam’s comfort zone.
And, of course, that brings us to the second play of that drive. Second-and-13 following a Myers holding penalty. Cutler drops back, and the ball laterals out of his hand … in the press box, I deadpan, “Whoopsy-doodle,” and I don’t have NFL Films music in mind.
“I’d have to go with the theme music from Benny Hill,” I said to Charlie.
For the record, the tune is entitled Yakety Sax, performed by the recently deceased Boots Randolph.
Of course, we can laugh at the play now. It’s almost as though the offense said, “C’mon, give us a challenge here,” not unlike a magician voluntarily putting himself in a straitjacket and being pushed underwater with only five minutes of oxygen left in his scuba tank. Selvin Young made an alert, game-saving play that was the work of a seasoned veteran, not the rookie he is. Cutler pulled himself up, dusted off the rubber granules from the artificial surface and found Javon Walker for 21 yards one play later, then ran for a first down on the subsequent fourth-down snap.
So maybe there’s another piece of music at play — the tune that plays when Frank Drebin systematically coldcocks the leaders of the not-so-free world at the beginning of The Naked Gun — From the Files of Police Squad! The piece is entitled, “Drebin — Hero!” (Here’s the tune.) Retitle that sucker “Cutler — Hero!” and pencil it in for the Broncos’ 2007 highlight film.
You can almost picture Cutler saying, “I’m Lieutenant Frank Drebin, Police Squad! And don’t let me catch you guys in America!” Of course, then Drebin fell out the window. I’m guessing Cutler, as a professional athlete, has much more coordination and grace than that …
… And if you can, say a prayer for Kevin Everett.
Shanahan presser at 1:30 p.m. MDT; I’ll be live-blogging it. Until then, vaya con Dios.
